The Urbane Nomads

Urbane Nomads is a new travel company offering a range of localities ranging from the fashionable to the unlikely. They have an itinerary list that includes Formula 1 driving in Barcelona, partying in an underground bunker in Beirut and traveling through the Hindu Kush. They also have trips to some of the world's most beautiful landscapes to witness the annual no-rules polo match on the Shandur pass of Pakistan and visits to the summer encampment of the reindeer people in Mongolia.

"The prototypical Urbane Nomad can be found living it up in a sybaritic town of Latin America one holiday and roughing it out in an eco-resort (sans mod cons) in an undeveloped city the next. Whilst fully revelling in the mod cons of luxurious, well-designed hotels around the world, the Urbane Nomad is too aware of the potential pitfalls of the homogenous 5-star accommodation; one of the ironies of luxury travel."

Their tours to Syria combine a stay in a design-led boutique hotel in Damascus with a two-night stay in the ascetic environment of an ancient (6th century) monastery in the Syrian mountains. More interesting pairings can be sampled too; like in Burma, where clients are able to start off their journey with a meditation session with a monk in a monastery set in a forest and end their journey in a luxury resort designed by Jean-Michel Gathy of Aman Resorts fame in a remote state of Burma.